Russia still hopes to build constructive relations with US

Russia still hopes to build constructive relations with the United States and other Western countries but regrets that there is no reciprocity here, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.

"No doubt, Russia keeps hope alive to build constructive ties with Washington as these relations do not only serve the interests of our two nations but also the interests of strategic stability and security around the world," Peskov said, noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke about this at the Helsinki summit with US President Donald Trump last month.

The Russian leader has shown his constructive attitude many times as well as his readiness to search for solutions to challenging situations and discuss thorny issues. "No one has any grounds to doubt that President Putin keeps this attitude. We regret that very often we do not see reciprocity here from our vis-a-vis in the West," Peskov said.

The US Department of State said earlier in a statement that Washington was imposing new sanctions on Moscow over its alleged involvement in the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in the British city of Salisbury. The first round of sanctions will take effect on August 22, while a second round may be introduced in 90 days in case Russia fails to meet certain conditions, the State Department said. Russia has stated many times that it has nothing to do with the Skripal case.